Published: November 03, 2009 07:55 am      

Some Sports Stories

Back in my high school days (1943-47), Bob Ackman was both basketball and baseball coach at Madison High. He was very successful at both. In basketball, the Purples went to the state tournament three out of four years. In 1944, the team placed third in the state. These teams have been written up in this column several times.

In baseball, Ackman’s teams went to the state finals two of the four years — losing to St. Xavier in 1945 and to Newport Catholic in 1946. I don’t remember all of the players, but here are some of them — Kenneth Bellamy, pitcher; Robert Cavalier, catcher; Ray Coy, first base; Harold Richardson, second base; Charles Combs, short stop; and Theodore Dunn, third base.

In the outfield were Harold Moberly, Bill Kersey, Ballard Luxon, John Park, and Blaine Clark. Park also pitched and Combs did some relief pitching. The players came from both Madison and Model. Unofficial coaches were two players’ fathers — Yankee Hall of Famer Earle Combs and Harold Moberly Sr. Some home games were played at Eastern, some at a field on Red House Pike. A big hurdle on the way to the state was always University High, coached by Lyman Ginger.

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Did you notice the article about the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in a recent Richmond Register? The teams listed were Indiana University-Southeast, Indiana University–East, Brescia, Berea, Asbury, Alice Lloyd, Cincinnati Christian and St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Half of the league is made up of non-Kentucky schools.

The original K.I.A.C. was all-Kentucky. All four-year schools in the commonwealth except the University of Kentucky were members. This included Louisville, Eastern, Western, Murray, Morehead, Union, Berea, Kentucky Wesleyan, Transylvania and Centre. When the first five of these schools left the conference to form the Ohio Valley Conference, the old K.I.A.C. began to break up. Today only Berea College is left from the original group.

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In response to a recent column on the 1931 White Hall High School girls basketball team’s trip to the state tournament, I received a phone call saying that the “quality silver trophies” won by the team were to be found at Boonesboro. They are located in the bedroom of the Kentucky River Museum in one of the lock keeper’s houses. The museum is the first historical site and is filled with 1906-era furniture. It is closed now for the winter. Thank you Mrs. Sowders for sharing with us this bit of Madison’s heritage.